When I was a kid, and reading was not just a pastime but an engaging indoor activity, Uncle Scrooge of the Disney comic book series was one of my favorite cartoon characters. He was a Scottish-born, American Pekin duck having human characteristics. Topmost among which was greed for more and more money. Named after Ebenezer Scrooge in Charles Dickens’s novella ‘A Christmas Carol’, Uncle Scrooge was shown as the wealthiest person in the world; a duck portrayed as an oil tycoon, businessman, industrialist, and adventure capitalist owning the largest mining concerns and factories operating different activities. Despite his astounding wealth, Uncle Scrooge was a thrifty and greedy miser and an antihero who practiced frugality and sought more money through adventure and treasure hunting. He had so much wealth that the cover of a comic book showed Uncle Scrooge diving into his bullion like he was entering a swimming pool.
Not unlike somebody making a splash in the news currently who has a finger in every pie and who’s accused of brazen stock manipulation and accounting fraud worth hundreds of billions of dollars that’s shaming him among financial societies everywhere. From being the third richest man in the world to being reported as the scamster who pulled off the largest con in corporate history is quite a dubious distinction. His fall from grace has been as meteoric as his rise to fame and riches. And I wonder how he gets to sleep at night. Or is he so thick-skinned and self-serving that he cares a damn what the headlines on him are? I know there are several explanations behind how he got there. And who is behind his power? All political and dirty. I’m will not get into them. But I understand so many financial and economic experts in the world pointing accusing fingers at one man with inexplicable wealth cannot be wrong.
It makes me wonder what happens to people. Why does a man who is already among the richest Top 3 in the world become so greedy for more wealth and further power that he will sell his country and people short to get there? How much money is enough already? I once bumped into the great Dhirubhai Ambani at a dental clinic and chatted him up. He had recently suffered a stroke and was paralyzed. His mouth drooped and his right arm hung uselessly. But he gave me a warm and crooked smile. I was the journalist but he was asking questions. “What do you want to be?” Dhirubhai asked me. “As rich as you,” I replied. He shook his head sadly and said, “To be like this?” He then gave me a life lesson I will never forget: “You can buy any luxury with money from clothes to food and a home to a holiday, but you can’t buy health. Money will get you a reputation but not respect.” How unlike Uncle Scrooge and the man in the news currently.
About Mark Manuel
The above thoughts/content has been proudly copied from the wall of Sir Mark Manuel. Being interviewing almost every role model of this country and going stronger each day. Mark Manuel is a respected Mumbai editor, writer, and columnist.
With over three decades of journalism in leading publications. This includes the Free Press Journal, Times, Dainik Bhaskar, Mid-Day, and Afternoon. He is famous for his brilliant pen interviews. He himself is a TEDx speaker.
Further
His interviews have been featured in several leading media houses. They include the Hindustan Times, Huffington Post, BBC, and Network 18. He has interviewed almost every famous person in the country from Mother Teresa to Muhammad Ali. His first book is just out. It’s titled Moryaa Re! It is a crime thriller that is perhaps the country’s first police procedural. He began his career covering crime. And in a tribute to his experience and knowledge of this beat.
Several distinguished officers of the Mumbai Police and its Crime Branch collaborated with him to make this book possible. Amitabh Bachchan wrote the forward in a statement of friendship for Mark Manuel and admiration for his work.
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